In a fast changing world we still have much we can learn
From time to time qualifications need updating, especially as new technologies become more advanced and expectations of the digital age are upon us.
You may think anatomy and physiology and business accounting are subjects that do not change, and you may be generally right with regards to content, but the advancement of information technologies and social interaction mean the introduction of new learning methods and assessment procedures need updating.
I can remember when computers came into the classroom and how it changed the way we learnt and how from the classroom you can be anywhere in the world via the internet. What took hours and days to complete now only takes minutes. I can remember in my teaching days asking the students to complete some market research and they designed a questionnaire, stood at the local livestock market asking farmers to complete the survey, and then spending hours and hours analysing the information and then inputting the information into an Excel spreadsheet to be presented as part of their studies.
Now you can design a Google survey in minutes, which is emailed out to thousands of willing participant and as they complete each questionnaire, via they smart phones, it automatically analyses the data and pre-populates a professional presentation ready for you to present it when required. How efficient is that!
As we have just described one example, you can see how qualifications need updating to capture the developing knowledge and skills.
I bet many of you have not heard about an educational learning company called Pearson. Well, I bet you have heard of Penguin books or Edexcel or BTEC. These brands are owned by Pearson who are a worldwide company and they are investing over £700 million per year in the digital advancement and the new age of learning, and one of their initiatives is developing the new BTEC Higher National Certificates and Diplomas. Last month we started the research phase of this development, which involves taking on board the views of employers, students, colleges, universities, associations and anyone else with a view.
Why is this important to land-based industries such as agriculture, horticulture and the like? Well, the new BTEC Higher Nationals in these subjects will be ready to be delivered in September 2018 and so if you want to have your say and make a mark, then please get in touch and we can all develop a qualification that is going to be world class - not only a nationally-recognised qualification, but a global qualification.
Chris Jones is involved in land-based education, training, and mentoring .
